Not all dogs go to heaven. Sometimes they come back after a particularly sad death. In Mix Land they come back as zombies and are hired by Manager X to perform in the circus. Since 2007, Mix Speaker’s Inc. has brought together music, costume and an engaging stage performance to create a unique experience in the visual kei genre of music. More Broadway stage production than music band, their elaborate costumes can be so large that they couldn’t bring the newest creations to their USA debut performance at Animenext in Somerset, NJ. While some of the members are performing in North America for the first time, there are two who are veterans of the anime concert circuit. Seek and Aya performed in the US under their previous band, Psycho le Cemu, and started the introductions as we delved into the latest series from Mix Speaker’s Inc.

pSKY: Tell us about the back story behind your zombie animals? How did each of them die?

Seek (condor): I was mistaken for a turkey and cooked for dinner.

Aya (rabbit): There’s an old Japanese folk tale about the rabbit in the moon. I had heard about this tale and decided I wanted to BE that rabbit in the moon. I jumped and jumped and eventually reached outer-space where I suffocated from lack of oxygen.

S (sheep): I was a sheep who had my fur shaved off in winter, so I froze to death.

Keiji (lion): I was a lion in the Savannah and decided to become a vegetarian. So you can probably guess that I starved to death.

YUKI (dog): I was an expert dog paddler and was so good I tried to swim across the Pacific. I didn’t make it.

MIKI (cat): I loved fish so much that I ate it all the time. I ate a fish bone that cut me and I bled to death.

And ultimately this is how Mix Speaker’s Inc. approaches each new chapter in their production. The story comes first, creating a solid base around which the music, costumes and performance are built. So it’s not odd that their last album, It’s a Dream World, was released several months into their tour. The zombie animals they debuted in America are just the first set of characters in this current production. In Japan they’ve already begun to introduce the second set of characters, animal pierrot. In animal pierrot, our friends at Mix Speaker’s have created their own circus away from Manager X. Their inspiration a mix of American carnival and cirque du soleil.  Even outside of the stage world, each band member has a role that sometimes influences the character he’ll play.  For fans familiar with Psycho le Cemu, everyone’s favorite cross-dressing guitarist, Aya, is still doing choreography.  MIKI designs most of the artwork, helping with artistic decisions on sets, costumes and marketing materials.  Seek works as the bands spokesperson, putting on a friendly, cheerful face despite the numerous metal studs and piercings.  And S, the sheep, is the gopher.

When asked about what they expected from their North American fans, the universal answer was to continue listening to Mix Speaker’s Inc.,  so they could perform in the USA again.